“Take it as your own?”

Rin burst out laughing.

“As expected of you, Miko. Arrogant all around.”

He then pointed his sword at Miko.

“However, if you think you can steal the Demolition Arts from clashing against it a couple times, then you’ve made a great error.”

Rin’s sword started giving off a humming sound, while emitting a dark red hue.

“If you make one mistake you’ll die.”

*Boom!*

Miko’s body was suddenly hit with an explosion which blew him away.

“See? Just like that.”

Rin said with a smile.

“Hm?”

Miko touched his chest that was burnt black.

“What are you talking about? I’m still alive.”

He gripped his two swords and they started to give off a green and azure glow respectively.

“However, Im not sure if you will be before long.”

Him jumped in the air, and the image of a crow and a dragon appeared behind him.

“Caw, Crow of slaughter! Roar , Dragon of Murder!”

The crow and the dragon fused to become a new being.

“Collapse The World!”

*Boom!*

He swung down his swords and azure and green cracks covered the area.

Immediately after, it was as if Rin’s world had crumbled.

Everything around him imploded and he was swept in a wave of destruction.

When everything had finally calmed down Rin was seen laying on the ground, with his clothes ripped up.

“Cough!”

He coughed up a mouthful of bad blood, and stood up.

“Not bad. You can still stand after that.”

“I should be the one praising you. There’s actually a technique in the Demolition arts that’s very similar to your attack just now. Although, I won’t use it since that freak Ashur was able to tank it.”

Rin showed a bloody smile.

“Well, whatever. I wanted to preserve my strength because I had intended to clash all of the representatives, but going all out against you is a honor.”

“Go all out?”

Miko smiled.

“Then do it! Even though I make it a habit to hold back against people, I hate it when people hold back against me.”

“As you wish.”

After he said that Rin started to slowly hop in place.

“He’s going to use it, huh?”

Christian said while looking at Rin.

“Miko’s in trouble. He should’ve defeated Rin before he got serious.”

Kouta said with a smile.

Karim smirked.

“Time to bring out the devil.”

Rin hopped in place with his sword down and his eyes focused on Miko.

Even so, Miko couldn’t find an opening to attack.

That’s when Miko noticed something odd.

“He’s giving off afterimages?”

With every jump Rin took three afterimages followed him like tails.

Its then that Rin stopped jumping and started walking towards Miko.

With every step, he left an afterimage behind him.

Karim smiled when he saw that.

“It’s coming.”

*Boom!*

“…..Huh?”

Miko’s world suddenly started spinning.

No, he was the one spinning in the air. It took him a long time to realize this.

When he realized it, he was assaulted with an immense amount of pain.

That’s when he finally realized that his body was burnt and was bleeding heavily.

After what felt like forever, Miko’s body finally hit ground.

It was only after that his body hit the ground that the snow hit the ground.

It felt like forever to Miko but he was sent flying for only a second at most.

“Guaah?!”

Miko’s body was assaulted with so much pain that he couldn’t help but scream.

“Miko!”

His scream caused Momo and Sasha to jump in fright.

He held his chest while rolling on the ground.

There was a hideous burn scar on his chest.

His skin had even melt and his bones were exposed.

“What the hell just happened?!”

Sasha shouted at the Secundus branch for answers.

“Demolition Arts Second Style: Speed Devil.”

Karim answered.

“Demolition arts is a style that requires a mass amount of magic and Qi, along with the ability to use them with precise control. Rin switched his Qi and mana from releasing in an explosive nature, and instead took precise control of it and distributed it into every part of his body that contributes to his speed, while maintaining the destructiveness that is Demolition Arts.”

Karim explained.

By moving at a lightning fast speed, Rin was able to multiple his destructive power.

“By the way, what he used against Miko is called Exploding Tempest.”

Karim added.

Miko struggled to his feet and looked at Rin.

“Don’t worry. I only used the back of the sword.”

He said.

Miko showed an irritated smile.

“Well, aren’t you generous.”

Rin silently started walking again.

“It’s coming.”

Rin disappeared, but this time Miko wasn't sent flying.

Miko had disappeared as well leaving electric sparking in his place.

*Boom!*

An explosion echoed out and the two were seen flying back.

Miko’s appearance was different though.

He had entered Dragonite Elemental form: Lightning mode.

“If it’s speed the I won’t necessarily lose.”

He said while wielding his swords in his hands.

They were covered with azure and green lightning respectively.

“Impressive. But, keeping up with me doesn’t mean that you can win.”

Rin disappeared again.

Miko turned into a lightning bolt and chased after him.

*Boom!*

The two appeared several hundred meters away, in a high speed sword battle.

Miko’s lightning swords slashed down on Rin who calmly avoided and parried them.

The two then separated and clashed again.

Miko attacked Rin relentlessly while trying to hit him with all kinds of surprise attacks.

However, Rin wasn’t being overwhelmed in the least.

He stayed calm no matter what Miko did and kept attacking while defending himself.

The two seemed to be at a stalemate but that wasn’t the case.

“Rin is superior.”

Kirika said.

“In sword skills, Miko can’t compare to Rin. If it was a straight up brawl, it might have been different, but this is a battle of swordplay, which gives Rin the clear advantage.”

She explained.

Momo was silent to what Kirika said.

Rin and Miko were different when it came to how they were trained.

While Miko was trained to be as versatile as possible, Rin was trained in the way of the sword all of his life.

If you match someone who focus only on tracks, against someone who plays numerous sports in a race, the result is as clear as day.

“Miko brought his own downfall when he challenged Rin to a sword fight.”

Said Karim.

“In swordsmanship alone, Rin is clearly #1 among all of them.”

Miko swung both swords down, which Rin blocked with his own.

He then appeared beside Miko thrusting his sword towards his neck.

Miko accelerated and avoided.

However, Rin immediately caught up and attacked him with numerous slashes.

Miko was put on the defensive as he parried them one by one.

He swung his sword to deflect Rin’s, but it suddenly speed up and cut him across the chest.

Before blood could flow, Rin’s sword came back for the attack and cut him again from the other side.

Rin then started to thrust his sword so fast that it looked like he was thrusting 12 swords at once.

Miko crossed his swords in front of him and blocked some of the strikes, but most of them hit his body.

‘T-This bastard! He actually got faster! I have a feeling that he can go even faster!”

Miko thought as he desperately fend off Rin’s endless attacks.

Rin sword was like a serpent, as it twisted past Miko’s defense and hit him directly.

Miko’s blood sprayed endlessly as his body was systematically chipped off.

“He reached his limit.”

Said Kirika.

‘What the hell is this? Havent I been getting my ass kicked too much in my fights lately?’

Miko thought.

‘I’ve already acknowledged that I need another fighting style to prevent this said situation from happening again. But in the end, I still ended up like this.’

He gritted his teeth as pain continuously assaulted him.

‘Oi, oi, oi. Don’t tell me I’ve already reach my limits? Fuck that! This competition just began, and I’m already back into a corner. This can’t work, this is completely unacceptable!’

Miko’s sword clashed against Rin’s and pushed him back at bit, but Rin immediately attacked him again.

‘This isn’t enough!’

He dodged Rin’s attack by a millimeter and attacked him, but Rin escaped and rushed to attack him again.

‘More! Dig deeper! Push harder! Move faster!’

“Hm?”

Kirika noticed something emitting from Miko’s body.

‘Black steam?’

Miko started moving faster, but Rin just increased his speed and overwhelmed him.

‘Huh? Did he damage my lungs? It suddenly became harder to breathe.’

Miko thought to himself while fighting and receiving more wounds.

Kirika watched him keenly and tapped Alec.

Alec looked at Miko and his eyes widen a little bit.

“Is that....”

He asked Kirika.

“It’s too early to tell, but it might be.”

The two stared at Miko as his fight with Rin continued.

‘My body feels heavy. As if I’m being restricted. It’s stifling. Even if it’s a little, I want feel a bit lighter.’

Without him noticing, a cracking sounds came from Miko’s body.

‘Huh?’

That’s when his vision became red. But that wasn’t all.

‘Rin got slower?’

He could see Rin’s movements more clearly than he could moments ago.

‘Did he get tired?’

He fend off an attack with relative ease.

He then started avoiding Rin’s attacks while striking back.

More of his attacks connected than before, while the opposite happened to Rin.

This naturally surprised Rin, since he was moving at his top speed.

‘I don’t know what’s happening, or why he’s slowing down but this is my chance.’

Miko smiled.

‘I might not get another chance, so I gotta hit him with everything I got!’

He gripped his swords and watched Rin’s “sluggish” movements.

And then-

He moved.

*BOOOM!*

A loud explosion echoed out and caught everyone’s attention.

A shockwave blew away the blizzard, and all the snow was blown into the distance, leaving the ground exposed.

Miko stood by himself on the bare ground.

His hands were bent up so bad he could no longer hold his swords. Even his fingers were twisted in the oddest ways. It was like his hands were smashed with Thor’s hammer.

These were self-inflected wounds.

In a daze, he looked in the air and saw something spinning in the sky like a top.

It was Rin.

He slowly fell towards the ground while spinning.

*Boom!*

When he landed, Miko looked at him in shock.

There was a huge X mark across his chest.

No, it was a huge bruise that sunk in.

It was obvious that his chest plate was destroyed from one look.

His eyes had rolled to the back of his head, and his mouth was left wide open, with blood and foam continuously flowing out of it.

He had let go of his sword, so no one knew where it had flown to.

His body just laid there without moving.

“Rin?!”

Karim stood up in shock when he saw his brother’s appearance.

Everyone saw when Rin who dominating Miko, was suddenly hit by an unavoidable attack from Miko.

However, because it had happened so sudden it was hard for them to understand what they had just saw.

“Sis.”

Alec spoke.

“It’s still too early to tell. We’ll have to continue to watch his battles to verify it.”

Kirika answered.

“If it was a fluke, then that’s fine. But if it’s not….”

She looked at Miko with a strange look.

“That kid has taken another step towards becoming a true monster.”